TOUGH CHOICES FOR GOLDEN ORANGE JURY IN SOUTHERN TURKEY

Hurriyet Daily News
Sunday, October 11, 2009

Some became famous while visiting friends on film sets. Some were
discovered while walking on Istanbul’s Beyoglu streets. Some were
the new faces of Turkey found in beauty contests. And some applied
to be an actor.

Each of the beautiful women and youth were still amateur when they
stepped into the movie world, but they learned quickly how to act by
gaining experience on film sets. Many of these artists were lucky
and became famous stars because Turkish cinema was looking for new
talent in the 60s.

The 46th International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival kicked
off with the theme ‘Turkish Cinema of the 60s’ this year. Prominent
Turkish cinema artists of the 60s were in the leading role at the
festival over the weekend. Although in the second day of the festival
sad news surrounded the atmosphere.

Renowned Turkish film director, producer and screenwriter Halit Refig
died Sunday. He is one of the most well-known and eventful names in
cinema from the 60s. Besides the sad news about Refig, the artists
have been talking about the critical condition of one of the most
loved actors in Turkish cinema, Minur Ozkul. Ozkul, who has earned
the title of "State artist of Turkey," is in intensive care.

Even though the participants grieve for Refig, the festival program
continues at full pace. On Sunday there was the galas of "BaÅ~_ka Dilde
AÅ~_k" (Love in Another Language) directed by Ä°lksen BaÅ~_arır and
"Bornava Bornava" directed by Ä°nan Temelkuran.

Most of the cinema critics think that this year’s competition will be a
tough one because all 16 Turkish films are challenging. It seems that
the jury, which is led by veteran director Erden Kıral and includes
actors Ä°zzet Gunay and Yavuz Bingöl, last year’s Best Actress winner
Nurgul YeÅ~_ilcay, director Mustafa Altıoklar, art director Mustafa
Ziya Ulkenciler, movie critic Omur Gedik, scree will have hard time
to choose the best of the best from the successful list this year.

In this year’s international competition there are 12 films
competing. Two of the films are Turkish. One of them is Abdullah Oguz’s
"Sıcak" (Hot) and the other one is Pelin Esmer’s "11’e 10 Kala"
(10 to 11). Also, there are two Turkish actresses appearing in other
competing films: Turkish actress Hatice Aslan appears as the lead for
Bulgarian director Kamen Kalev’s "Eastern Plays," and Saadet IÅ~_ıl
Aksoy plays the lead in Armenian director Harutyun Khachatryan’s film
"Border."

Monday’s galas are "Uzak Ä°htimal" (Wrong Rosary) directed by Mahmut
Fazıl CoÅ~_kun and "Babam Bufe" (Daddy’s) directed by Meric Demiray.

Wrong Rosary, which was also screened at the Adana Golden Boll
International Film Festival this year, tells about a hopeless love
story. A young muezzin, Musa, comes to Istanbul for the first time
and is assigned to a mosque in the Galata district of Istanbul. In his
apartment his next-door neighbors are the old Sister Anna and Clara,
who takes care of Anna. Musa falls in love with Clara and the film
continues with little surprises.

Daddy’s tells a story, which sounds familiar with everyday Turkish
media/life incidents. Korcan, who is a news cameraman for a TV channel,
assigns Salim, the concierge of Korcan’s apartment, to act in his
fake news.

In the evening on Monday, Murat Saracoglu’s "Deli Deli Olma" (Piano
Girl) will be screened. The film, which stars famous veteran actor
Tarık Akan, tells about the lives in Kars, and one who was forced
to migrate. Mishka is from the Malakan tribe, which was forced by
the Russian Tsar to immigrate to Kars in the 19th century following
the 1877-78 Ottoman-Russian war.

"BeÅ~_ Å~^ehir" (Five Cities) and "Ä°ki Dil Bir Bavul" (On the Way
to School) are also competing in the national competition and will
be screened on Tuesday.

In addition to the hundreds of film screenings, the Golden Orange is
offering seven exhibi rkish cinema, behind the scenes and the city
of Antalya. There are six venues for the screenings this year but
the galas as usual take place at the Ataturk Culture Center.